


Fourth of July

by lillyluna



Category: Sports RPF, Swimming RPF
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-04
Updated: 2013-07-04
Packaged: 2017-12-17 16:32:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/869633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lillyluna/pseuds/lillyluna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It's a special day!"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fourth of July

Michael hears Oliver scream over the music and their guests talking. He automatically turns away from his conversation to scan their backyard for the bright red swimsuit he knows Ryan dressed Oliver in that morning. 

Oliver is being chased but their backyard is so busy that Michael can’t tell who he’s running away from. Oliver weaves through the pool chairs, their relatives and the dogs like a mini tornado while yelling at the top of his lungs. Oliver grins happily and even halfway across the yard Michael can see that Oliver's face and hands are covered in melted blue Popsicle. 

“I’m just going to go grab him, two seconds.” Michael tells Ryan’s cousin (or the girlfriend of one of Ryan’s college frat bro friends, Michael seriously can’t keep track of them anymore) and excuses himself. 

Michael follows the flash and blur of Oliver's blue bathing suit and his red star patterned t-shirt through the crowd and finally manages to grab him around the waist to pick him up. 

Oliver tenses for a second but once he realizes who’s holding him he stops yelling. He loops his arms around Michael’s neck and makes a funny face at him. He laughs when Michael makes one back. 

“I want juice.” Oliver requests.

“No, you need a bath.” Michael answers. He licks his thumb to try and scrub some of the blue juice off his son's face. 

“Never!” Oliver yells with all of his five-year-old defiance, “It’s a special day. No bath time!” 

The line is so Ryan that Michael laughs because Ryan says things around Oliver forgetting that Oliver repeats everything to everyone. 

Oliver squirms and kicks and pushes sticky hands against Michael’s face and shoulders until Michael puts him down. Oliver runs away from him only to be stopped by Devon a few feet away. 

Once he crashes into Devon’s legs, Oliver starts to scream again and Michael figures that he’s found the person Oliver was originally running away from. Oliver never stands a chance. Devon has him up off the ground before Oliver can even start thinking of getting away. 

“Yo, you need this punk?” Devon asks Michael holding Oliver over his shoulder. 

“Nah.” Michael shrugs, “Throw him in the swamp.” 

“Feed him to the gators?”

“DAD NO.” Oliver yells. He tries to kick Devon. “PUT ME DOWN.”

“What?” Devon pretends he can't hear him, “Throw you in the swamp?”

“NO!!” Oliver yells again.

“Throw you in the pool?” Devon tries one more time. 

“Yeah!” Oliver cheers and instantly stops kicking. 

Oliver has been in and out of the pool since that morning and had graduated to swimming without water wings as long as someone was in the water with him by lunchtime.

“Yo Ry!” Devon turns away from Michael and whistles to get Ryan's attention. Once Ryan looks up from the grill Devon points to Oliver. “Dude's getting thrown in, go get ‘em.”

It's the Fourth of July and Ryan's entire family plus a bunch of their friends are hanging out in their backyard. Ryan has been hoarding fireworks in their basement since Easter. Devon, Brandon and him text back and forth constantly about orange whips, sky worms and warheads. 

Michael had stopped checking out their stash three weeks before the party after Ryan had come home gleeful and called Devon to triumphantly announce that he'd gotten his hands on some professional grade fireworks that were probably illegal. 

They have a keg, a whole pig to roast and way more hamburgers than anyone will probably ever eat. Ryan enlists Oliver as his personal fireworks assistant and Michael tries not to think about their five-year-old being close to explosions, fuses and fire. At least Talan who's still not too steady on his feet and hates loud noises is safe from being hired on the pyrotechnics team 

Devon and Ryan spend the entire morning setting up the display according to a chart drawn up by some guy who claimed to be an expert. They’d both spent months swearing up and down that they had never actually set anything on fire or injured anyone but themselves but Michael calls someone to make sure that their home insurance covers fires.

“Maybe.” Ryan shouts back at Devon, “Lemme see the splash first.” 

“Canon ball!!” Oliver yells as an answer to Ryan's challenge. 

“Cannon ball!! Jeah Gator!!” Ryan hands the BBQ spatula he’d been holding to the closest person and turns his full attention to the pool. 

Oliver laughs when Devon lifts him up over his head and screams when he launches him into the pool. There’s no fear in his face or in his voice. 

Ryan dives in before Oliver hits the water. Once Oliver resurfaces he finds Ryan right away and swims to him to be rescued. 

Ryan brushes Oliver’s hair out of his face and spits water out at him. Oliver laughs and splashes water up at Ryan and Ryan throws him back into the water. 

Michael laughs because even surrounded by fifty people Ryan manages to make it all about their own family. He watches Oliver surface again and swim towards Ryan to beat tiny little fists against Ryan’s chest in mock anger. 

“Hi daddy.” Talan calls out.

To be honest, Michael had forgotten where Talan was, the last time he’d seen him was when he’d finally been able to peel the toddler from his arms to hand him over to Devon; the only other person Talan had decided would get to hold him that day. 

Talan waves at Michael from a cushioned pool chair. 

“Hey Baby.” Michael sits down in front of him, “Are you having fun?” 

Talan is too focused on peeling bite-sized pieces of a bun away from bite-sized pieces of hamburger and separating them on his striped red, white and blue paper plate to answer Michael. To get his attention, Michael tugs on the laces of Talan’s winged star spangled Adidas shoes; Ryan’s most prized baby footwear acquisition. 

“What are you doing Baby?” Michael tries again tugging on his youngest son’s plate. 

“Fixin’ it.” Talan explains. 

Talan wipes both his hands on the orange and green sea turtle wearing glasses t-shirt that definitely does not match his shoes or his red and silver star covered shorts (not bathing suit because there was no way Tal was getting in the pool). Ryan had bought the t-shirt for him in his quest to make Talan feel normal for wearing glasses and Talan (who was too little to care that he had to wear glasses) refused to take it off. Ryan had had to go back and buy five more. It was the only shirt Talan had agreed to wear for the past three weeks. Michael could feel their housekeeper silently judging their parenting life choices every time she did laundry. 

Once he's made sure that Ryan has pulled Oliver out of the pool, Devon falls down on the chair next to Talan and rubs a hand through his hair. 

“What you gotta fix dude I got that plate just for you.” Devon frowns down at Talan, “Like we made it together, I didn’t even make you look at the pig remember we hid from it?” 

The roasted pig had terrified Talan when he’d first encountered it on the kitchen counter that morning. Talan had refused to go back into the kitchen even after Ryan had carried the thing outside. 

“You fed Tal?” Michael asks Devon. 

“I tried dude.” Devon says, “I messed something up cause he's not eating it. Like I knew not to bring him close to the pig but I thought he liked burgers there’s no ketchup in it even.” 

“The bun needs to be separate.” Michael explains. He takes the plate away from Tal, “He doesn't like it when they touch. He eats them apart.” 

“Your kid's weird,” Devon laughs. “Like he's my bro and I love him but he's weird.” 

“So's Ryan.” Michael shrugs because genetics aside, Ryan’s managed to nurture weirdness in both their kids. 

Both Oliver and Talan do and say things that are so Ryan it amazes Michael. Michael’s pretty sure that only Ryan could instill so much self confidence and love into a kid that they would wear the same t-shirt for two weeks straight without caring what anyone thought of them. It amazes him constantly that Ryan’s able to find ways to let their super shy three-year-old express himself. 

“I can get him a new burger.” Devon offers, “I won’t mess it up.”

“Nah.” Michael wipes Talan's hands clean with a towel that's hanging off the chair, “I got him go have fun dude it’s a party.” 

“It’s a ‘pecial day! ‘ee-ah” Talan cries out in agreement like a miniature caricature of Ryan. All curly haired with mismatched clothing and ridiculous shoes. 

“Yo.” Devon looks concerned, “Does it like worry you that Ry cloned himself?” 

“No.” Michael says without hesitating. He kisses Talan’s head and adds, “Turned out pretty good.” 

“Whatever, enjoy your weird burger dude.” Devon says as he high fives Tal, “I’ll see you for fireworks… You’re gonna be old enough to help out next year so I need you to watch and pick things up k?” 

“Ok.” Talan answers ready to do anything Devon asks because Devon is without a doubt one of his favourite humans on the planet. 

“Alright Baby.” Michael picks Talan up and reaches down to grab the paper plate, “Let’s get you food you’ll actually eat.” 

“Not the pig.” Talan reminds him, “It has a face.” 

“I know Baby. No more pigs.” Michael reassures him. He wishes he had a free hand to brush too long curls off Tal’s forehead and to straighten the glasses on his face. He crosses their backyard to go find Ryan.

Ryan’s pawned off grill duties on another one of his cousins or another one of his college friends but he’s still standing close to the food, holding a beer and digging out a juice box for Oliver. 

“My dudes!” Ryan calls out happily. He reaches for Tal once he’s speared the juice box with the straw and handed it to Oliver. “Where were you Baby?” 

Once Ryan is holding Talan, he brushes hair off his forehead and twists a few curls together to get them to stay back. He kisses Talan’s cheek before straightening his bright orange glasses. He rubs his thumb against a smudge on Talan’s left shoe. 

“With Devon.” Michael answers for Talan who’s gone back to hiding his face against Ryan’s chest now that they’re back in the crowd. 

“Hey Baby.” Ryan says gently, “You don’t gotta hide no one’s a stranger.” 

Talan shakes his head no against Ryan’s chest but he peaks out to look up at him. 

“Did you want food?” Ryan asks Michael, “I didn’t eat either I was gonna get Oliver a plate and find you.” 

“I need another burger for Tal.” Michael explains.

“He ate his whole burger?” Ryan asks skeptically. 

“No, but the bun is on it and he won't-” 

“If he's hungry he'll eat it.” Ryan shrugs. 

“You're gonna starve the three year old into doing what you want?” 

“He's not starving.” Ryan rolls his eyes at Michael, “Devon let him eat cake before he had his hamburger. Look there's icing on his face.” Ryan rubs Talan's cheek with the back of his knuckle.   
“He still won’t eat the burger if it touches the-” Michael tries again because he’d rather give in to Tal’s picky eating habits than let the kid go hungry. 

“Don’t make him another burger dude.” Ryan groans, “He already got it all apart… He’s three you can’t do everything he wants. He’s not the boss.” 

“So he just won’t eat?” 

“Oh my god.” Ryan rolls his eyes again, re-adjusts Tal against his side and grabs the paper plate from Michael “Look.” 

Ryan takes a piece of hamburger and holds it up to Tal’s mouth. Tal scrunches his face and moves away. 

“Oh yeah.” Michael laughs, “Good job.” 

“Whatever.” Ryan throws the piece of hamburger straight at Carter who catches it mid air. “Gator wants a hot dog, d’you want a hot dog Baby?” 

“No.” Talan shakes his head. 

“I want a hot dog!” Oliver jumps up and hands his empty juice box to Michael. 

“What do you want on your hot dog?” Michael asks him grabbing a new plate from the table behind him and handing it to Ryan. 

“Peanut butter.” Oliver calls out, “And jam.” 

“I'll do it.” Ryan threatens, “So think real care-”

“Ketchup.” Oliver rethinks his answer, “Chips.” 

“Chips in your hotdog or on your plate?” 

“Both.” 

“Sold.” Ryan fixes Oliver’s plate and points to a free spot on the ground a few feet away. “Come eat it.” 

“I wanna eat in the pool.” Oliver whines.

“No.” Ryan shakes his head. 

“It's a special day.” Oliver tries.

 

Michael doesn't think he'll ever get used to Ryan’s family gatherings and he doubts Talan ever will either. 

Once it gets dark, the strings of Christmas lights around the backyard light up and citronella candles glow on every possible surface. Fuelled up on cake and popsicles Oliver still runs around clutching the noise cancelling headphones Ryan insists he has to wear if he’s going to help him set the fireworks off. 

Michael sits by the fire pit drinking beer waiting for Ryan and Devon to double check that everything was set up right. He can see them holding up a flashlight to the paper plan. Devon’s pointing at something and they both look puzzled until Ryan’s brother-in-law comes up behind them, says something and gets Ryan to turn the paper back sideways. 

“Have they ever really not set anything on fire?” Michael asks Kristin who’s looking towards the pool for her own kids. 

“They’ve never had to call for help.” She answers, “You have a fire extinguisher right?” 

Talan’s sitting by Michael’s chair playing with some toy cars. He’s running them along Herman’s back and Herman doesn’t even bother to open his eyes. He does however begrudgingly stand up when Talan does and walks alongside him letting Tal hang onto his back. Once Talan is hanging onto the edge of Michael’s chair, Herman slinks back down at Michael’s feet. 

“What's up pal?” Michael asks Talan. 

“Up.” Talan holds his arms out to get picked up. 

“Tired Baby?” Michael picks him up and sits him on his lap. 

Talan nods and rests his head against him. 

“Fireworks are gonna be soon.” Michael reminds him. 

But ten minutes later when the first fireworks explode somewhere in the sky above their backyard all Talan does is scream. He burries his face deep in Michael’s neck and puts both his little hands over his ears. Nothing Michael or Ike or anyone can say can convince him to look up. 

“I'm gonna take him inside.” Michael tries to yell over the fireworks but away from Talan's face. When Ike looks at him puzzled he points from crying Talan to the house and mouths, “If Ryan asks.” 

The patio door only dims the bangs by a little but it's enough to get Talan to lift his face from Michael's neck. 

“I know you're tired Baby. It’s loud too. It’s okay.” Michael soothes as he walks a continuous loop through the main level of their house with all the dogs following his every step. It takes two laps before Talan calms down completely. Michael kisses his hair and heads upstairs to the master bedroom. He holds Talan up to the floor to ceiling windows that look over the crowded backyard. 

“Look Tal.” Michael says encouragingly. He points at the exploding colours, “Orange.” 

“'wange.” Talan says back. He leans forward and puts both his palms against the glass. 

“Yeah! And blue!” Michael smiles at him and points out the next firework.

He looks down at the yard and sees Oliver yelling enthusiastically as he clutches his noise reducing headphones. Oliver is tucked safely between Ryan's chest and the arm Ryan isn't using the light the fireworks.

“'Gween!” Talan his the window again, “Daddy, gween!” 

“That's right green!” Michael praises. He shifts Talan in his arms and sits down on the bed. He puts Talan down next to him and takes off his ridiculous shoes. 

Talan pulls at his glasses, slips one hand under the strap and tugs them off his face. He hands them to Michael. 

“Here Baby.” Michael takes the glasses out of Talan's fist and reaches out to put them down on Ryan's beside table. 

“Thank you.” Talan leans against Michael and starts to suck his thumb. 

Michael runs his fingers through Talan's hair and they watch the fireworks until Talan's eyes droop and his head is heavy against Michael's hand. 

Michael carries Talan to his bedroom and changes him into pajamas. He throws the t-shirt and the shorts into the laundry basket and makes sure they still have a clean turtle t-shirt for the next day. 

He hears Ryan coming up the stairs as he’s putting Talan to bed. 

“Hey I couldn't find you.” Ryan says, he has to step across all the dogs to get to Michael, “I saw Tal crying but like I couldn't-” 

“Too loud for him, he got scared. He's super tired. I was going to head out.”

“Here.” Ryan reaches down and picks up Talan along with his blanket, “I don’t like him being in the house alone… If he wakes up he’ll flip… I’ll hold him. People are heading out if you wanna go say bye.” 

*

Ryan says goodbye to their guests while Talan sleeps in his arms. Michael watches him from just outside the sliding glass doors. 

“DADDY!” Oliver runs to Michael still wearing his noise cancelling headphones, “IT WAS AWESOME!” 

Oliver runs full speed against him, wrapping both his arms around Michael’s legs. 

“THINGS BLEW UP!” He yells again. “UNCLE DEVON BURNED HIS HAND AND SAID A BAD-”

Michael reaches down and pulls the headphones off Oliver’s head and Oliver’s voice goes back to a normal level. 

“Word.” Oliver finishes. “Where’s Carter?” 

“Inside sleeping.” Michael answers. 

“Did you see the fireworks?” Oliver asks. He reaches up to be picked up, something he rarely does. 

“Yeah I did Bud, they were great.” Michael picks Oliver up and puts a hand in front of Oliver’s mouth when Oliver yawns, “Tired?” 

Oliver nods but doesn’t close his eyes. 

Devon’s the last person to leave and his right hand is wrapped in gauze held together by a few Spiderman Band-Aids. 

“You were awesome dude.” He tells Oliver before high fiving him, “Good job.” 

“I hope your boo boo feels better.” Oliver says, “You can have more of my Band-Aids if you need ‘em.” 

“I’m good dude but thanks.” Devon ruffles Oliver’s hair and clasps Michael’s shoulder. 

Ryan and him hug and Devon kisses Talan’s hair before calling out for his dog and walking out towards his car. 

“Is the party over?” Oliver asks sadly.   
“Yeah but we got cake left for tomorrow.” Ryan tells him. “It’s bedtime dude come on.” 

“I’m not taking a bath.” Oliver tells them both, “It’s a special day.” 

Talan is still sleeping and Oliver starts nodding off while he brushes his teeth. Ten minutes after they walk upstairs both boys are dead to the world in their respective beds and Ryan and Michael are left to stare at the disaster that is their backyard. 

“Fuck dude.” Ryan groans slumping down in a chair, “I don’t wanna clean this shit up.” 

“There’s not much left.” Michael points out, “like just the coolers and the food.” 

“The gators will eat it if we leave it out.” Ryan yawns, “S’all good.” 

Michael laughs and sits down on the armchair of Ryan’s chair leaning down to kiss him. Ryan tangles the fingers of one hand through Michael’s hair and pulls him in closer. 

“Thanks for dealing with the crazy.” Ryan tells him when they pull apart, “I know s’like not easy and to not be with your family…” 

“You’re my family.” Michael says off handedly because Ryan’s been apologizing for them living in Florida for years. 

“Still owe you.” Ryan mumbles. 

“Yeah? How?” Michael asks raising an eyebrow, curious to hear Ryan’s plans. 

“You can lick cake off me.” Ryan proposes. 

“No.” Michael laughs. 

“We got more beer.” Ryan points out. “Our pool. Skinny dipping.” He yawns out the last words. 

“Or sleep.” Michael offers.

“That’s boring no.” Ryan argues but he yawns again. 

“Our shower’s warmer than the pool.” Michael proposes. 

“We gotta clean though.” Ryan whines, “Everything.” 

“We’ll call someone to clean in the morning. Let’s just go to bed.” Michael decides. 

“Fuck I love your dirty talk.” Ryan grins at him, “D’you see me blow stuff up?” 

“Yeah.” Michael remembers Ryan protecting Oliver from the lit fuses, “Super hot.” 

“It was awesome. We should do it again. Now that I got like that dude’s number he can hook me up.” Ryan closes his eyes and leans his head against Michael’s shoulder. “Shit I’m either drunk or super tired I can’t tell.” 

“Let’s go to bed.” Michael gets up and pulls at Ryan’s hand. 

“Don’t take advantage of me.” Ryan laughs, “S’not cool.” 

“Don’t worry Ry.” Michael puts his hands on Ryan’s shoulders and guides him back into the house, “I will.”


End file.
